


Reverie

by Mindless_Drivel



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Gay Panic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22559683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindless_Drivel/pseuds/Mindless_Drivel
Summary: Yukina can't stop having dreams about Ran. That's it. Yukina is gay.
Relationships: Minato Yukina/Mitake Ran
Comments: 30
Kudos: 96





	1. Countenance

Tonight, once more, Yukina had talked about the same cat she has been sighting during her usual walks home to Lisa. The both of them exchange their farewells and good nights to one another before hanging up and going to sleep. Yukina drifted off to sleep much easier than the other nights, but woke up with cold sweat running down her rosy cheeks the next morning. She had a nightmare--the worst one she had experienced thus far. Begrudgingly, she gets ready for school, and band practice after.

After school, Yukina takes the usual route to CIRCLE, spotting the usual cat in the usual road, yet this time, her seeing the cat hits a little bit different. The cat is associated with the dream she had just experienced last night, so she was reminded of it with great detail. Yukina flinched a little, and so she hurried to where the other members of Roselia are.

“Yahoo, Yukina!” Lisa greets her first as usual, but the grave look on her face made Lisa worry.

“Yukina? Are you alright?” she asks.

“Lisa...I had a dream--no, a nightmare…”

“A nightmare?” Lisa sighs a breath of relief, “I thought you were mugged on the street or something, thank goodness you’re alright, at least!” she adds, “And? What’s this nightmare about?”

At this point, all the other members of Roselia are already listening in on the conversation.

“Mitake-san… It was about Afterglow. Mitake-san had told me they were going to surpass Roselia in popularity with a snap of her finger. The next thing I knew, they were already topping the charts, with us only in second place…” Yukina breathes for a bit before continuing, “And then, Mitake-san and I were behind the school, and she did a kabedon on me, and I…”

“...and then you…?” everyone else exclaims in unison.

“I don’t remember what happened next.” Yukina says as she blushes a little bit.

The other members of Roselia were severely disappointed because of their overwhelming curiosity about the sequence of events, but swiftly returned to their practice session after.


	2. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ran spots Yukina making merry with Himari in Tsugumi's place, and oh, she's not happy about it. The misunderstandings only escalate from here.

Days flew by, and Yukina still kept on dreaming about Ran; pleasant dreams, haunting nightmares--a seemingly endless, vicious cycle. Its effects are getting more and more visible during band practices. It has become so clear that Sayo had decided to step in and try to remedy the situation. During one of their practices, Sayo invited Yukina out to coffee at Tsugumi’s place. Having such a relaxed atmosphere, she thought it would give Yukina some peace of mind. At first, Yukina was reluctant to go, and if not for Lisa’s meddling, she would not think twice to decline Sayo’s offer the next time she asked.

“Why not? I’ve been to that coffee shop a couple of times, and their coffee is amazing!” Lisa persists.

“So it is. What do you say, Minato-san?” Sayo insisted, and Yukina reluctantly agreed.

On the way there, Yukina spots the cat she had been talking to for the past few days in the middle of a busy street. Stopping to make a detour, the both of them went to Yukina’s usual route home, and dropped off the cat there. They had been petting and giving their affection to the cat for a solid 15 minutes, before realizing that they were getting sidetracked. And so, both of them waved goodbye to the cat as they started to walk towards their original destination.

“What’s with Mitake-san that made you agitated recently, Minato-san?” Sayo asks, breaking the silence.

“It’s complicated, I’ll tell you when we get there.” Yukina said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

Not much later, they arrived at the Hazawa Coffee Shop.

“Welcome!” Tsugumi greets, “Ah, Sayo-san and Yukina-san! Welcome!”

“Thanks for having us, Tsugumi-san.” Sayo greets back.

“Sayo… ‘Tsugumi-san’? Since when did you two get so close?” Yukina asks in utter confusion.  
“Eeehhh!? This is the first time I have heard about this as well!” Himari, being discarded as the elephant in the room, also retorts in confusion.

“Ah, Uehara-san, you were here?” Sayo states, feigning shock.

“Isn’t that a bit too cold!?”

Shortly after, Yukina joins Himari as Sayo and Tsugumi talk to each other from several tables away. Soon after, some sort of pink aura started to radiate from the two. No matter how much Himari called out to Tsugumi, she did not answer, and was only focused on Sayo. Laughing, smiling, and having the time of their lives, they already became isolated from the rest of the world.

“I didn’t know they were this close…” Yukina says, “Does this happen often?”

“Yes, but, I haven’t heard Sayo-senpai call her ‘Tsugumi-san’!” Himari adds.

Himari was here hours ago to rant to Tsugumi about the band, and as the conversation went on how Ran was acting up lately…

“So she does that? I see.” Yukina says, swallowing up every tiny bit of detail about Ran that she heard from Himari. “Did she say anything like trying to ‘dominate the charts’, or ‘destroy’ any band lately?” she further inquired, as subtle as possible.

“Ran? Hmm, not that I remember, but I can guarantee that we have not been spiking any activity lately… What I can say with confidence though is that we have been doing the same things as we always do!”

“So ‘the same as usual’, huh… I see.”

Himari continues to vent to Yukina about Ran, in replacement for Tsugumi, who has been excitedly talking to Sayo about things. Yukina absorbs everything Himari says about Ran with glee. Every second, she knows a little bit more about the girl that’s been invading her dreams since weeks ago. A little while after, Moca and Ran goes out from Yamabuki Bakery, with Moca holding ten chocolate cornets in hand. They pass by the Hazawa Coffee Shop, and see the four people inside.

“Ah, Sayo-san is here again today…” Moca says in a somewhat sleepy tone. “Oh? Minato-san is also in?”

“Minato-san?” Ran is alerted by the sudden turn of events, “You’re right, and it seems she’s talking to Himari about something...and she’s smiling?”

“Jealous? You did say Minato-san has been the content of your dreams lately…” Moca nonchalantly says as she takes a big bite out of the first choco cornet.

“Moca!” Ran blushes at the thought.

“Relax, it was just a little Moca-chan joke~” she says as she finished the choco cornet in one huge bite.

After observing for a little while more, the both of them continued walking home. After a while, Moca asked if Ran was sure to not go inside the shop, in which she replied: “It’s fine, but I’ll talk to Minato-san tomorrow.”

Sure enough, Ran took steps to get Yukina’s attention the next day. She had put a letter in Yukina’s locker, saying she wants to meet up behind the school grounds; the old-school style of inviting someone out to say important stuff. Thus, Yukina went ahead of the scheduled meeting time, only to find Ran hiding behind a tree. With her back against the wall, Yukina had been expecting this day to come, but not how soon it would be.

“Minato-san.” Ran looked at her straight in the eyes, “Is there something that you are hiding from me?”

Yukina is too flustered to speak, and so she turned her eyes to the ground, “W-What are you talking about?”  
Ticked off, Ran kabedons Yukina, “Don’t play dumb with me!” This caused Yukina to blush even harder and forced her to look at Ran in the eyes. “I saw you getting all cheerful with Himari yesterday, what are you scheming? If there’s something you wanted to say to me, I’m already here.” she adds.

At this point, Yukina feigned being calm and collected as she cleared her throat, “T-That’s none of your business, but I did not know you liked snooping on people, Mitake-san.”

“N-No, that’s not it, Moca and I just happened to spot you in Tsugu’s place yesterday as we were walking home! Anyway, spill it out already! Do you really hate me that much?” Ran says as she puts her face closer to Yukina’s.

“Mitake-san, enough. We both know I don’t hate you, so please relax.” Yukina’s legs are at the verge of giving out on herself, “Is that all? We have band practice today as well, so if you have any complaints, you can visit us at the usual place anytime.” she lied: there is no practice today. Even if there was, Lisa had ordered her to take a break from practice for a while.

“Well then, please excuse me.” Yukina fled from the scene before she fainted from the gay panic she was internally experiencing. “I don’t hate you--in fact, it’s quite the opposite…” she whispers to herself as she walks away.


	3. Connexion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yukina enacted revenge by making Ran unable to stop thinking about her. Bold move, Minato-san.

Ran has, in fact, heard what Yukina had said. There was nothing else she could do but watch her slowly walk away, being left speechless in the aftermath of it all. With conflicting emotions, she slowly heads her way up to the roof. She looks up, gazing pensively at the cloudy afternoon sky, with Yukina’s words still repeating inside of her head, like a broken record. Moments later, a familiar voice comes up from behind Ran.

“Ah, I knew you’d be here. You’re always here when you want to think about things.”

Ran snaps back to reality, her face flushing red as she hides her inner turmoil, “Moca!? Since when were you here!?”

“Let’s see, from “Minato-san! I want you all for myself!” while you started daydreaming about you and her being together.” Moca said with the usual playful tone on her voice.

“I did not do and say these things!” Ran pinches her cheeks, “I swear, one of these days, I will sue you for slander.”

“Don’t worry! Moca-chan can be silenced with Saya-chin’s choco cornets~”

Ran lets go of her cheeks, “I get it, you just wanted an excuse to go home together, right?”

Moca holds up a peace sign, “Choco cornets! Choco cornets!”

Like always, they went home together, but not before stopping by the Yamabuki Bakery this time. Ran explained the situation with Yukina both to Moca and Saya before they left.

Later that night, Ran is wide awake on her bed, silently staring at her ceiling after her evening bath; minutes had passed trying to get Yukina out of her head, but ultimately failing to do so.

“Was I the only one who kept on thinking that Minato-san hated me...?” her guilt, shame, and embarrassment rises with this thought. After a while, she decides to give up and just confront Yukina herself about it tomorrow.

At least, that was the plan, but Yukina started to avoid Ran like the plague. This went on for a while, until Ran grew extremely worried and anxious about the matter after four days. After school that day, Moca and Ran are walking home together, with Hazawa Coffee as their destination. Just outside the shop, Ran spots Yukina and Lisa talking together inside, and immediately drags Moca to Saya’s place once more, begging her to stay at their place for a while after explaining the situation.

Ran contacted Tsugu to text her back once Yukina and Lisa had already left, in which Ran and Moca immediately left when Tsugu gave the go-ahead. After settling in, Ran also explained the Yukina situation with Tsugu. She gave Yukina’s phone number to Ran before they left.

That night, Ran constructed a simple text message to Yukina after her nightly bath, telling her that she wanted to meet up at the roof tomorrow after school. 20 minutes had passed, and she was still proofreading her own text message, with cheeks as red as roses. After a while, her father suddenly knocks on her door loudly, and because her finger is on the send button, she had already pushed it before she was ready to do it.

“Dad! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!?”

“Oh, sorry, were you studying? Dinner is ready.”

“I’ll be right there, but knock normally next time!” seeing that Yukina hasn’t responded for the next 5 minutes, she concedes for the moment and comes down for dinner.

Right after finishing, she immediately comes back and checks her phone to see Yukina replying with a short “Alright.”, and for the rest of the night, she became anxious for an entirely different reason.


	4. Cognition

“I don’t hate you--in fact, it’s quite the opposite…”

Yukina walks away without looking back. Going home, she decided to stop by Hazawa Coffee to sort her thoughts and emotions out, with a nice cup of the usual blend. She spots Sayo already inside the shop, talking to Tsugumi. Upon arriving inside, their talk gets cut short as Tsugumi greets Yukina. She gets to a table not too close to where they were talking earlier, and Tsugumi hands her the menu, patiently waiting for her order with a smile.

“The usual blend again today, Minato-senpai?”

“Actually, I’m in the mood for something else today. Surprise me, Hazawa-san.”

“Coming right up!”

As Tsugumi leaves, Sayo comes to sit in front of Yukina. Seeing the conflicting emotions that was evident on Yukina’s troubled face upon entering the shop, Sayo couldn’t help but ask what was wrong. Yukina tried to brush it off as a small matter, but she wouldn’t buy that excuse. Sayo knows because she wore the same face whenever she used to have troubles dealing with Hina. After a short while of trying to make Yukina confess, she finally spilled the beans on what had transpired with Ran. 

Shortly after, Tsugumi comes to their table with two cups of coffee; both holding a blend that Sayo always orders, much to Yukina’s amazement. As it was a matter concerning love, Yukina also asked help from Tsugumi, seeing that the two had been really close as of late. Tsugumi agreed to offer help, and removed her work apron before sitting beside Sayo.

Yukina once again told everything that happened; the dreams, the encounters, the kabedon. She sipped on the custom blend Tsugumi made for them. “Delicious.” she says, “Your blends always defy my expectations, Hazawa-san.”

Seeing that it was almost time for her to go, Yukina finished up her coffee and gave Tsugumi her contact info. Before she managed to open the door, Tsugumi stopped Yukina to give her one last insight: “Minato-san, I really think you’re madly in love with Ran-chan.”

Stopping for a short while, she looks at Tsugumi in the eyes before giving a faint smile, “I see.”  
On the way home, Yukina reflected on Tsugumi’s words. “Love, huh? I might have already known that from the very start, but why am I doubting myself?”

She continued to reflect on her friends’ words of advice until she was home. That evening, she called Lisa, asking if she can accompany her to Tsugumi’s place and get another opinion on the matter. After confirming their plans, both of them went to sleep.

After school the next day, Yukina gets spotted by Ran, and is calling out to her. Her face instantly flushed red, so she brisk-walked the other way. With her thoughts jumbled up, Yukina makes her way to Hazawa Coffee, and meets Lisa there. Like what she did with Sayo and Tsugumi yesterday, she told everything that went on in the past few days, and Lisa immediately linked it with the dreams Yukina was having.

“Just like what happened in your dreams!” Lisa exclaimed, “Except the part about Afterglow exceeding Roselia did not happen.”

“Exactly, it felt too similar to the dreams I witnessed that night.”

“A coincidence? I’ve read somewhere on the internet that dreams might actually be predictions of the future, hence why people experience déjà vu.”

Since then, they met at the same place, with Yukina talking about Ran most of the time, for four days. It was only then that Lisa knew what to say with certainty.

“Yukina, listen to me closely. You’re in love with Ran.”

“Yeah, I know that already.”

“Whaaat?!” Lisa exclaims in shock, “Then how come things are still awkward between you two?”

“It’s mostly my fault; I will apologize to her tomorrow, I promise.”

“Good, because these small misunderstandings might escalate to even bigger ones, you know?”

After a brief reprimanding, both of them leave the store, only this time, Yukina’s chest feels a lot lighter than how it felt when this whole fiasco had started.

Later that night in her room, Yukina is laying on her bed, thinking about how to approach Ran tomorrow. On her wit’s end, she received a text message from the very girl she was thinking about, with a golden opportunity presenting itself. In her mind, she was ecstatic; she could write a whole poem about how she was feeling right now, but instead chose the path of brevity. With a single word of affirmation, she closed her phone, closed the lights, and slept with a feeling of both excitement and anxiety in her heart.


	5. Consolidation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dammit Yukina, just tell Ran you love her, you idiot.

The next morning, outside the school gates, Yukina is talking with Lisa as they walk past Ran and Tomoe. Yukina pretended not to notice, but Ran, on the other hand, deliberately avoided Yukina’s gaze, and looked away blushing. Tomoe, who has no idea of the internal turmoil that is happening inside of Ran, tilts her head in confusion. Shortly after, she spots the other members of Afterglow walking together towards them. Himari, as usual, screams Tomoe’s name in greeting. Moca, who spent the night playing video games, rubs her eyes and yawns a little bit in greeting. Tsugumi, who is considered the most responsible one in the band, follows behind Moca while staring into space, not because she lacks sleep, but because she’s daydreaming about Sayo carrying her bridal-style.

Following the usual antics of the members of Afterglow is the sound of the school bells, signaling the start of homeroom. Not risking being late, the five of them, and several other students, rushed towards their respective classrooms. For the others, it’s a normal school day, but for Yukina and Ran, it is the slowest class day they have ever experienced. Ran sighs while she repeatedly checks her wristwatch, and Yukina kept on subconsciously tapping her finger into the desk. Unable to sit still, as soon as lunch break started, both of them hurried to the rooftop, even though they agreed to meet up after school.

With the classroom floor advantage, Yukina arrives at the rooftop first. Walking over to the guard rails, she paced around the area, thinking to herself why would she go here so early from the time they agreed to meet on. As soon as she was thinking about going back to her classroom, she heard the rooftop doors open, and there she saw Ran, visibly sweating and breathing heavily.

“Mitake-san? Why do you look so tired, coming up here? Were you that eager to meet up with me that you’d run up here?” Yukina tried cracking a joke, but that only made her feel embarrassed, knowing that she, too, felt the same way.

“Minato-san…” before anything else, Ran fixed her jagged breathing, wiped the sweat off her face, and lifted her head up, maintaining eye contact with Yukina.

Ran slowly walked up to her, with steady eye contact and raised eyebrows. She stops at about a meter in front of Yukina. On the surface, she looks calm and ready, but in reality, she is still fixing her inner thoughts and feelings, hence the long silence between the two. Yukina, feeling the same inner conflict as Ran, couldn’t quite find the right words to say in the situation. 

Not wanting to feel awkward anymore, Ran finally speaks up.

“I’m sorry!” she said as she bowed in a perfect 90-degree angle, “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like that, I know I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions, so I’m sorry!”

As a cool breeze blows past them on a bright sunny day, Yukina holds Ran into a long and passionate embrace. “It’s okay, I understand, I’m sorry too.” Yukina says in between the pleasant silence. A midsummer’s reconciliation that rivals the blooming of flowers in springtime; their world has been painted anew, with colors they have never seen before.

They engaged in conversation about everyday life until the end of lunch break. Not realizing they unintentionally abstained from eating until it’s time to go back, they instead agreed to go somewhere to eat after school. Seeing Yukina in a good mood upon returning to her seat, Lisa sighs a breath of relief. The same can be said for the rest of Afterglow upon seeing Ran in the corridor, who was walking with a spring in her step and a smile on her face.

Nothing of note happens as time moves forward to about two weeks later, after exams week on a Sunday morning.

Yukina decided to go to CiRCLE, despite not having band practice that day. Even though it is the start of summer vacation, the sky is cloudy with a small chance of rain. Everyone else in Roselia has their own plans today, except for her. Her father saw her lazing around, doing nothing, so he gave her some spending money and let her go out.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Mitake-san in a while. She appears more and more in my dreams lately, I wonder what she is doing right now...” Yukina ponders to herself, and only the youthful wind brushing past her amethyst hair is the only answer she got. Carefully and in total silence, Yukina walked towards her destination.

In front of CiRCLE, she saw Ran sitting on a bench, holding a shoulder bag, with a somber look on her face. Feigning coolness amidst uneasiness, Yukina sits next to Ran.

“Is there something wrong, Mitake-san?”

“Minato-san…” Ran is surprised to see her in this exact moment.

“Not feeling well, perhaps?”

“No, but…”

“I am listening.”

Ran looks down in distress, “Well you see, I made plans with Tsugu today, since I always ask for her help about summer homeworks. Today just happened to be a busy day for the shop, so our plans got cancelled. The others also have their own plans for today, and I told my father I’m staying until the night, so he also went out.”

Yukina sighs a breath of relief, knowing Ran is not in danger somehow, “So in other words, you’re stuck out of options until later tonight?”

Ran nods in embarrassment, not sure of the right words to say. Luckily for her, Yukina happens to be bored out of her mind today.

“I think I still have my notes from last year. Come over for a change.”

“Eh? Don’t you have practice today?”

“No, my father basically kicked me out after he saw me lazing around the house.”

“Lazing around…? You DO have summer homeworks right?”

“Yes, but I’m not interested…”

“Well, if you’re inviting me over to your place, we might as well do it together!”

“Ah?” Yukina is left speechless after hearing Ran’s sound argument. “Well, that’s fine… I guess I should also change up my usual routine for this summer…”

Yukina stands up, “Now let’s get going.” she says as she pulls Ran up to her feet. As they make their way over to the Minato household, the both of them engage in conversations about their respective bands, but Ran still sees Yukina as her “rival” in the world of girls’ band. Not noticing the flow of time, both of them arrived at their destination.

“I’m home.”

“Yukina!” her dad exclaims, “It’s only been an hour, don’t tell me you even got bored of the outside world…”

“No, father, I brought a friend from school with me. We’re going to do our summer homework together.”

Ran bows politely, “Thank you for having me here, I am Mitake Ran, a second-year.”

“Mitake-kun, hm…” Yukina’s dad puts his hand on his chin, assessing the current situation, “I didn’t know you got held back a year, Yukina.”

“N-No I did not! It’s a pain to explain the full story, but I’m just helping her out for today.” Yukina crosses her arms.

“Alright, alright, I get it, I’m just kidding. I’ll go and prepare lunch, I’ll call you in your room when it’s ready.”

“Thank you, father.”

“Um, Minato-san?”

The two Minatos look at Ran. Yukina unfolds her arms and smiles.

“Just call me Yukina here. It’s alright, Ran.”

She grabs Ran’s hand and takes her to her room.

The study session went well, except for one thing: Ran couldn’t focus at all. Yukina is right in front of her, getting her homework done in an orderly fashion, while she is too busy thinking about how she and her are in the same room, together, and on a first name basis. The first time Yukina called Ran by her first name, Ran went as red as a ripe tomato, and hid her face using her hands to hide her embarrassment. Thankfully for Ran, Yukina’s dad called them over for lunch, so she got a chance to reset her state of mind.

Once they have gotten back to studying, Yukina focused on doing the tasks at hand; an unusual sight for someone like her, who is not interested in homeworks, not unless Lisa begs her to do it before she regrets not doing it beforehand. On the other hand, Ran is still recalling the first time Yukina called her by her name.

“Ran.”

“Ran.”

“Ran.”

“Ran.”

Like a broken record, over and over and over repeating the same word in her mind, yet its effects are as fatal as the first time.

Early evening came, and Yukina is almost finished with the entirety of her summer homework. Third years have the least homeworks because they are suggested to either look forward to College or look for a job. Meanwhile Ran, with her mind occupied somewhere else entirely, only finished about a quarter of hers. Yukina’s dad told her to stay for dinner, but she told them her dad was already home, so she took the chance to leave before it goes bad for her heart.

“Here, take this. Say hello to your dad for me.” Yukina’s dad gives some baumkuchen to Ran before heading back inside the house.

“Thank you for helping me out, Minato-san, even though I basically spaced out the entire time…” Ran lets out a dry laugh.

Yukina puts her hand on Ran’s shoulder.

“You can just call me Yukina, you know? I’ll call you by your first name in school and outside as well, Ran.” Yukina’s smile naturally forms, and Ran is mesmerized by the sight of it; a side of Yukina that is almost never existing inside and outside of her band.

After waving goodbye and goodnight, Ran heads home with a blushing grin on her face as she continues to relive the moments when Yukina called her by her first name.

“Ran.”

“Ran.”

“Ran.”


	6. Reticence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the prelude to the next chapter, Credence. A short read, but like I said, this only serves as a prologue.

_“Across the sea to you, I've left myself deserted here again_

_Across the sea to you, my pieces are too broken now to mend”_

Minato-san is currently in front of me, sitting on a wooden stool chair, singing a song while she plays the acoustic guitar. The song itself is unfamiliar to me, but the way she sings it; the passion, the emotions, it’s like soothing my heart and hurting it at the same time.

_“In the middle under a cold black sky_

_The sun will only burn for you and I”_

“Minato-san”…? Until when will I deny myself of my true feelings? Until when will I rob myself of the happiness that I truly wanted? In the end, I am merely running away from the truth, from myself, from her. Deep down, I know what’s wrong with me--

_“In the moment before I lose my mind…”_

\--I am afraid. Afraid of the future, afraid of trusting and being hurt, afraid of change, yet I also know that I can’t stay forever like this.

_“...these hours don't mean anything this time”_

For the longest time, I just wanted us to be equals; I just wanted her to see me as her equal. I want to call her “Yukina”, I want to see her everyday, I want her to acknowledge me--

_“Give me a sign,_ _  
__show me the line…”_

\--but I’m too afraid to open up to the one person I care about, love, and value the most. I’m hopeless, aren’t I? It’s pathetic, but these are my true feelings.

_“...maybe tonight_

_I’ll tell you everything”_

It’s taken me a long time to realize, but I…I love Yukina. With all my heart. I want to stay by her side, be her supporting pillar in her time of need. Those, too, are my honest feelings.

_“Give me a sign, show me the line,_

_maybe tonight I’ll tell you everything”_

I applaud as Yukina finished singing her piece. Now I understand why it felt so compassionate and oppressive at the same time. It was just me all along; it was just me who was holding me down. As my honest thoughts resurfaced, I kept on pushing them back in, but now, I feel refreshed, I feel unshackled; I feel alive.

_“In the middle under a clear, blue sky_

_The sun can only burn for you and I”_

She starts singing once more. I approach her with unsteady steps, feeling lightheaded due to how much my thoughts have spiraled over the course of her entire performance. As I come near her, she flashes me a smile, but the next moment, I fall down into the ground, like I was walking on water using magic and I suddenly ran out of mana.

_“In the moment before I lose my mind_

_These hours don't mean anything this time”_

I fall down, deeper and deeper into the ocean of my own thoughts. The light from above starts to gradually fade, yet I can hear her voice as clear as day.

_“Give me a sign,_ _  
__show me the line…”_

Eventually, my eyelids get tired, so I slowly close my eyes, trying to concentrate only on her fleeting voice.

_“...maybe tonight_

_I’ll tell you everything”_

I hear only the exact same chorus, over and over, until it’s gone and replaced by ringing sounds.

_*ring ring ring ring*_

Wait a second, that sounds familiar...


	7. Credence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that their feelings are crystal clear to themselves, how will Yukina confess to the tsundere? Hell, what if the tsundere confesses first?

I wake up from a dream that felt pleasant, but I cannot remember for some reason. Still feeling groggy, I sat up from my bed and rubbed my eyelids awake. I subconsciously reached out to my phone only to find out that the ringing I was hearing is coming from it. The reader says: “Calling: Moca”.

“Nyello…?” I answered with a monotonous voice.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan~!” Moca greets from the other line with her usual fruity voice.

“What’s up? It’s six in the morning on a Saturday…”

“Hey Ran, I was talking to Lisa-san last night, and apparently, she plans to hold a beach party with Roselia. She was asking around the other bands if they’re also free tomorrow, but it’s only us that are free.”

“Wait, I think I know where this is going…”

“You do? Then I’m calling Lisa-san and agreeing to that offer--”

“Wait a minute, Moca!”

“What~? Do you have a reason to decline~?”

“Well, no, but--”

“Alright, that’s that, let’s all meet up at the mall today at 2~ Don’t be late~!”

“Moca wait--!” and then she hangs up.

Not even giving me a chance to retort, typical Moca. Well, not that I would say no to that, but 2 in the afternoon huh? I’ve got a lot of time to kill. After getting breakfast downstairs, I told my old man about my plans for today during our morning plant-maintenance routine. In the meantime after that, I have become a couch potato, just like I was for mostly the entire summer vacation.

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve been doing my summer homeworks, which is almost finished by now. I’ve been to Tsugu’s place maybe twice or thrice, as well as hanging out with my friends in Afterglow. Other than that though, if someone asked me what I did during the holidays, I would probably draw a blank thinking about it. Aside from lazing around the house, I guess...I’ve been daydreaming about Minato-san a lot these days.

Yeah, I really do love her...Minato-san--or rather, Yukina… Eep, I’m still embarrassed at the thought of us calling each other by our first names… I never thought negatively of it though; from the moment I boldly announced to her that I’d be her rival, I wanted us to be equals.

Maybe, just maybe, what if I’d already fallen for her back then?

“Ran! It’s already 1! Don’t you have plans today?” my old man’s loud voice interrupts my train of thoughts about Yukina and snaps me back to reality.

“Ah-- Sorry, I’ll get ready now!” I turned the TV off, yet I can’t seem to recall what I was watching on it in the first place.

I took the usual quick shower, dressed myself with the usual clothes, and I’m off to have fun with my friends; the same as always.

A quarter before the meeting time, I arrived in the usual meeting spot in the mall. As expected, those two are the earliest to arrive.

“Heya, Himari, Tomoe.” they greet back in response to mine.

“So, what’s the agenda for today?” Tomoe shrugs, then I turn over to Himari.

“Well, after Moca called me about the beach plans for tomorrow, I immediately tried on every swimsuit I have.” Himari sighs.

“Let me guess: none of them fit now?”

“Yeah...so I called Moca back and told her about it, and then she told me that five heads are better than two.”

“I see, I understand.” Even now, I still worry about Himari’s eating habits. It could lead to unforeseen consequences, like today. Still, I wouldn’t complain, since I get to hang out with them.

At exactly 2pm, as if it was right on cue for them, we spotted Moca and Tsugu waving at us, so we waved back. Seeing as the gang’s all here, we now set out to do what we came here for: shopping for Himari’s new swimsuit. One by one, she tried on the pieces we think would fit and look good on her. Since we have a lot of options at hand, Himari gives us her opinions on each one and we take back the ones that aren’t up to her tastes. Midway into our dilemma, she wanted to take a break and grab some sweets, in which Moca replied by teasing her.

“Hii-chan… Do you remember why we’re here in the first place…? I’m amazed you could even suggest that right now...heehee…”

Damn, that was all it took for Moca to shut her up and continue… I wonder what kinds of conversations these two have had…

In the end, it came down to two pairs of swimsuits. Since she expected to grab only one set, she doesn’t have the money to buy both, and has gone into massive contemplation. “The peach one, or the crimson one?” she repeats to herself over and over, like a broken record. Surprisingly, due to her impatience, Tomoe grabbed both pairs, paid for them at the counter, got back to Himari and gave them back in a neat wrapping, faster than how Himari could get back to her senses. With constant apologies, Himari thanked Tomoe with all her heart, in which she replied with constant reassurance; that it’s fine and should think of it as a gift.

This shopping trip alone took us an hour and some change, but whatever I do with them never ceases to be a great time. I wish I could casually have fun with Yukina like this too…

Tsugu suggested that we should go to her place to discuss whatever plans we’ll be having for tomorrow, so we did. At this point, Tsugu already has our usual orders embedded in her memory, so she immediately gets behind the counter with her apron on, and gets to work on our cups.

Apparently, Tomoe plans to teach Himari some swimming forms and techniques, but Himari insisted on bringing a floating board with her, just in case. A few moments later, everyone sat and settled down with each of their cups in hand. I take a sip and...ah, it’s an amazing blend as always.

Come to think of it, I’ve seen Yukina with Sayo-san in this cafe one time… I wonder what kind of blend she orders here… Heck, does she even like coffee? Oh, how I long to share these feelings in blissful pastime with her!

...

W-What am I saying?! Even I’m embarrassed quoting a line from a book like that!

Hold on, I just realized that I know next to none about Yukina’s tastes, hobbies, or pastimes. I do have her number, so what am I afraid of? No, that’s not it! My pride won’t allow me to make the first move and ask her out on a date! Then again, does pride really mean anything in a situation like this…? Times like these, I just have to do whatever I can, right!?

Right, now that that’s settled, maybe I’ll shoot her a text or two tonight… Strike while the iron’s hot, as they say, but I’m still kinda getting cold feet--

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!”

Moca screams into my earlobe, shaking me all the while, hence interrupting my train of thought.

“Are you okay, Ran-chan?” Tsugu also calls out to me with a worried look on her face, “Was my blend too strong this time?”

“N-No, I’m fine, what’s up?”

“So you were daydreaming after all…” after glancing around, I don’t see Himari nor Tomoe anywhere, “...and so Tomo-chin and Hii-chan had to leave early, but they saw you with a blank face and...Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan~! You’re not listening again...!”

“I am, I am! Calm down!”

“Really? So, how are things on your end?”

“What...things?”

“See, you didn’t listen to a word I said! I was asking about you and Minato-san…”

“E-Eh?! Why bring up her name like that now??” Tsugu looked so confused, so Moca explained the whole kabedon situation. I sigh a breath of relief; it looks like even she doesn’t know that Yukina literally went to my house…

“I-I see, that’s what you were talking about… Yeah, we already made up, so there’s nothing to worry about for tomorrow. We’ll be fine…”

I hope…

“Ah, what a relief… Right, Tsugu…?”

“Yeah, that’s right, Moca-chan!”

I shoot a confused glare to the both of them, “What is it?” and I regret taking a sip of my coffee right after I ask that.

“What, aren’t you two dating?”

I almost choked on my drink right after hearing something outrageous from Moca’s mouth.

“W-Wha-- N-No--! I-I’m--! Nnnnnnn--!”

“Ah, she’s beet red. How cute~”

“R-Ran-chan! Are you okay? Moca-chan! Don’t tease her like that!”

“Ahahahaha, I’m sorry~”

“Geez, I can’t believe you, Moca! We’re not even dating yet-- wait, why is Tsugu just accepting of this? Moca…! Who else did you tell?”

“Don’t worry, Ran, your secret’s safe with us~” she says as both of them give me the thumbs up. I can’t believe these two right now, but if they think that we’re compatible enough to date each other, then this makes things simple for me…

“So, do you guys think it’ll work out if I confess tomorrow?” I ask the two of them, and ever since then, we’ve been talking about different scenarios for a great confession. In the end, I decided to hold off the confession at a later date, since it was all too much for me to handle. Moca gave me a deadline though, and she’s right that we’re supposed to focus on studying once the summer vacation is over. I pondered over the thought as I walked back home. The next thing I know, it's night, and I’m already laying down on my bed face-first. I guess I’ll take a shower to recollect myself.

Walking back inside of my room after a nice, long bath, I look at my phone that’s sitting on my desk, blinking on and off. I immediately grabbed it, but the next thing I saw was a missed call prompt. I opened it up to see that it was Yukina who had already called me thrice. I received a text message from her after that, apologizing for waking me up. 

“No, it’s fine, I was in the bath. What’s up?”

“Nothing, really. I just wanted to hear your voice...”

What the hell, woman? If you spout lines like that, I would do my confession much earlier than I was planning to do!

Before I could get a hold of my bearings, my phone’s screen flickers once more. Yukina is calling me again. I quickly answer my phone with the usual demeanor. I lay down on my bed while hugging a pillow, pretending it’s her that I’m holding in my arms. We talked with each other throughout the night, and because of that, neither of us could sleep a wink until 3 in the morning. It might be because of the coffee, but she went to sleep earlier than me, while I was talking about the things that happened to us today.

“Yukina? Yukina? Are you still there?”

Nothing but the sound of static and soft breathing answers me as I confirm her presence. I giggle, and softly responded:

“Good night, Yukina. I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

I hung up, and then I prayed for a nice dream about Yukina tonight.


	8. Stardust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final Boss Mitake Ran builds a castle in her guild's (Afterglow's) glory in the Far East to put challengers of the throne to a trial of fire just by trying to get there, and only a ragtag bunch of misfits, a guild named Roselia, dare walk that fiery road. Aiming to finally be the top guild after 3 years of rivalry, our protagonists set out on a journey to defeat the Demon Lord and her Generals!
> 
> Wait, this IS the beach episode, right? Right!?

“Is that it?”

I point to the overly evil-looking castle just beyond the horizon. Sayo, Lisa, Ako, and Rinko, all stood in attention in response. The journey was long, but after 6 hours and a change, we finally made it. With blades in hand, we carefully made our way inside the castle.

The first floor lacks character; its oppressive atmosphere, combined with its evocative nature, makes both rookie and veteran adventurers alike cower in fear. The enemies we have encountered here are just lower-leveled troops compared to us, so we weren’t too drained of resources. In one room sits a huge portrait of the castle’s ruler, and if I’m not mistaken, is delicately made to preserve its color for a very long time. Lisa made the call to take five in this room to double-check our gear, items, and conditions. Even though I feel somewhat uneasy with the large portrait joining us, this room is the only room on this floor that is perfectly conditioned for a quick breather.

“The enemy is still everywhere. We may be taking a break, but don’t be too complacent. Stay on your toes.” I warn them, but to no use. Lisa and Sayo are thoroughly scanning in this room for items that we can use like the kleptomaniacs that they are, and our two mages are too busy debating how much the painting would cost if we sold it outside.

Once they’ve settled down, we gather up in the middle of the room, which later on turns out to be our misfortune. Right as we prepare to leave the room, a magical circle glows beneath our feet, and we all are too slow to stop its channeling. A bright light illuminates throughout the room, and we all reflexively close our eyes; its embrace feels comforting and suffocating at the same time.

A little bit later, after what felt like a journey and back through outer space, my entire body meets the cold, hard ground. As I caress my head which throbs in pain for a short while, I slowly sit up from my position. I open my eyes and let them adjust to the lighting of my immediate surroundings. A quick observation tells that I am in a throne room, bathed in white and lusters of deep crimson rubies; it begins again in mystery, and I always end up there. I carefully stand to gather my bearings, and each minute transcribes another question in my mind, but like a huge wave crashing down from far above, all my questions were answered in an instant.

“Ah, the Hero, Yukina. How many times have we fought each other?” The Demon Lord, and Guild Master Ran, suddenly appears before me, sitting on her throne made of ice, wrapped in gentle auburn stardust.

“I don’t know. Maybe if you gave up your rank and position, it wouldn’t be too many to count!” I unsheathe and brandish my blade, wrapped in amethyst and tension in the air.

In many ways, like the light of the sun and the moon, we are the same, and just reflections of each other. In the same way, we both light each other’s days even in the darkest of nights. Two separate faces, yet are forged in the same coin. If we had just met earlier, I wonder if things would go differently, and we’d be close friends?

A huge influx of mana cancels my thoughts, as I recognized it as the very same mana Ran has invoked to eliminate her every single enemy, including us. We’ve been second place in the Guild Wars for too long, and this year will be different!

A vermilion aura surrounds Ran, and then she transforms; wearing her shining black and red armor, she assumes a fighting stance and waits for me to attack. A game of chicken goes on for a long time, until I finally lose focus. I blinked, then she’s gone. I immediately casted a quick defense buff and prepared to parry from every direction. That turned out to be my unbecoming, as she grabs me from behind and throws me to the ground, German Suplex style. Due to the defense buff, I quickly recovered, and then struck back; our blades crossed, and the sound of metal hitting metal echoed throughout the chamber.

“Were you underestimating me, Hero?”

As she asked me that question, I noticed that her eyes turned into a heterochromia blue and orange, a warning sign that she’s turned into [Overdrive] and [Unshackled] state.

“Never in a million years, Demon Lord.” 

I jumped back and changed swords; I pulled the legendary weapon [Yamato] from my inventory, instantly putting my last weapon back in. I swing my blade twice in a wide arc forward with swift motions, then I step back to cast [Judgement Cut] thrice. With Ran, she can only be so fast as to block a couple of my attacks at a given time, but if I receive an attack from her at that state, it would spell the end of me. She may have overwhelming force, but I am definitely packed with unmatched speed! I have a chance to beat her as I am now!

I summon two [Doppelgangers]; one for summoning [Magic Swords] to hurl at her, and the other to engage her at close combat, to keep her busy as I channel my [Judgement Cut End], [Yamato]’s ultimate move that cuts away through enemies, space, and time itself in an area around me. For some time later, as soon as my clone is done pulling Ran closer to me, I dismiss both of them and instantly cast my freshly channeled ultimate, slashing away through her armor multiple times in a single second while time has seemingly stopped in the area of my ultimate. I return to the ground, sheathe the [Yamato], and time resumes forward, applying all the slashes I’ve done during the stopped time.

I put my hand back on my blade, keeping it unsheathed, and faced Ran once more, remaining myself on guard. Observing her closely, it seems like I didn’t do much damage to her, but she could also be feigning strength. She’s just standing there, gazing at me with bloodshot eyes, with blades in hands, possibly anticipating my next move.

“As expected, you’ve got a lot of vitality, Ran.” I charge up for the finishing move, all the while never letting my eyes off of her for a second.

“All these attacks I’ve given to you relentlessly, yet you still stand? Unfortunately, patience is a virtue…” I sharpen my senses, breathe in, breathe out, and close my eyes.

“...that I DO. NOT. HAVE!”

I instantly teleported in front of her, swung my mana-infused blade in a massive arc, and it met both of hers, destroying them in the process. A huge outburst of explosion from two different manas colliding together bursts inside the building, making the roof above us collapse; dust and debris fly in the air, but my [Shield] passive keeps us safe, like an umbrella against the heavy rain.

The dust settles a few moments later, and what I saw afterwards utterly destroyed me. Ran is holding the [Yamato] by the sharp end only by using her bare hand. Even when she is visibly bleeding, she tenaciously holds on to my blade. I audibly gasped, and she took that opportunity to grab me with her offhand, and knocked me to the ground at breakneck speeds. The [Yamato] returns to my inventory after depleting most of my mana. Ran pins me down to the ground; her hands on mine while she sits on top of me. She puts her face close to mine, and mocks me with a smug look on her face.

“Your swordsmanship is sloppy. Did you really think you could defeat me in that state? Poor fool.”

“Honestly, I never thought you’d just hold my blade like that.”

“Pulling out another blade would take too long, and far too risky. Decisions like these are what makes me a Guild Leader, and the one who sits atop of the Leaderboards every year.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, we’ve lost again this year.”

I hate admitting defeat, but this battle truly is unwinnable for us in our current state. Afterglow is just too amazing, but that’s what makes them so tempting to challenge over and over again. We’ve lost, but being this close to Ran, the person I love, makes this defeat turn into a victory for me!

“Ran, I love you.”

“W-What!? What’s this all of a sudden…?”

“I don’t care if we’ll always be second to you, I still love you, Ran!”

Ran loses her composure, thanks to my sudden confession. Her face turned beet red, and refused to look me in the eye anymore. Seeing as she is disoriented right now, I tried to lean in for a kiss, but as I do, I am suddenly shaken violently.

“Yukina? Yukina?”

...

“Yukina! Wake up, Yukina!”

My very pleasant dream gets interrupted by Lisa, who is somehow in my room this early in the morning.

"Ugh... If only it was that easy in real life..." I mumble to myself.

I sit up, rub my eyelids awake, and answer her.

"Lisa…? What’s the hurry…? It’s still way too early…”

“Yeah, I know, but knowing you, you’d be asleep until it’s too late, so get up and get ready!”

How very thoughtful of my childhood friend.

Thanks to her, I woke up with a lot of time before our meeting. She’s already packed up and raring to go, so I did the same right after eating breakfast. With her watching me, I got ready in no time at all, so we set out to Hazawa Coffee earlier than we had planned.

As expected, we are the earliest ones to arrive. Since Afterglow agreed to go with us today, we changed our meeting place to here for both side’s convenience’s sake. Hazawa-san gives us her signature hostess smile before leading us to our seats. It looks like she’s brewing coffee all by herself, possibly a new blend she’s experimenting on, and asked us if we wanted to be taste testers, in which we agreed to.

“It’s delicious as always, Hazawa-san.” Lisa agrees with me, but Hazawa-san’s face says that there’s something else with the blend that’s not up to her tastes. She seems very into this, so I’ll remind her what’s going to happen today.

“Hazawa-san.”

“Yes! What else do you need?”

“...How’s the preparations for later coming along?”

“Later…?”

…

…

“Oh…”

The look on her face says it all. Frantically, she goes to the back and, I assume, also gets ready before the others arrive. I couldn’t speak fast enough to tell her that she had two more hours of waiting to do, but I guess she’ll notice...right…?

Turns out my gut feeling is spot-on. Hazawa-san has entirely forgotten all about the beach trip. After a solid hour and a change, she finally came down. She apologized, saying she was too excited to try out a new blend she found on the internet last night. A few moments later, one by one, everyone else arrives at the scene. The last one to arrive was Moca, who came with the van and its driver we’ve rented for the occasion. Since we’re going to a beach that’s out of the city, with our numbers and our luggage, getting cabs would be a hassle, and can potentially be more expensive in more ways than one. I should thank Lisa for thinking thoroughly about this. Everyone is excited for the trip, me included, so we all hopped on our ride and departed for our destination as soon as we’re all ready. When was the last time we’ve all gathered together and had fun?

The excursion itself was pretty lively; this is the first time Afterglow and Roselia have met up and gone to a place together not to hold a concert or a gig, but to have R&R time. It felt like it took us no time to make it to the beach, thanks to the non-existent traffic, but in reality, it took us an hour to get there.

Upon setting foot on the white sands, I inhaled the seaside winds; a little salt in the air shouldn’t matter that much. Being the last one to arrive, I just got done changing into my swimsuit, and with a book on one hand, a bottle of soft drink on the other, I laid down on one of the loungers underneath a table-rested parasol with cute flower designs. Appropriate to our current place and time, the others are already merry and splashing water on each other, although I find it really embarrassing for me to do the same.

Rinko slowly comes over to me, panting as the heat is slowly getting to her. I guess she really isn’t used to being outside yet. If not for Ako, I’d reckon she probably won’t come with us either. Having been given a bottle of water by Ako, Rinko lays down to the lounger next to mine as she grabs my attention.

“You’re not going for a swim, Yukina-san?”

“I’m going later, I’m here probably for the same reasons as you.”

“Eeh? Isn’t it a waste to just be here though?”

“In all honesty, I don’t feel too hot.” I glance over to Ran, who seems to be having fun in the waves, then back to Rinko. “Must be because of the weather, or something else entirely…”

“Is that so?” Rinko giggles.

“Then again, it’s rare for you to be out here of your own accord. It truly is a day filled with surprises--”

At that point, someone grabs my arm and forces me to stand up. I look over to that person and see…

“Ran!?”

“What are you doing here, missing out on all the fun? Let’s go swim!”

“Ah!? Wait, I don’t know how to--!” I look over to Rinko, who’s also taken aback by the situation. Ran takes this opportunity to grab my hand, and then Rinko looks like she realized something.

“Have fun, you two!” she gives us a thumbs up, then lays down with her eyes closed, as if to say “Don’t mind me!”

Ran tugs me to the seaside with a bright smile on her face. Honestly, whatever am I going to do without you?


	9. Rhapsody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In reverence, the two souls come to accept one another, and in turn, the fire swirling in their hearts scorch them no longer.

**[Ran’s POV]**

“Raaaaan~! Let’s go~!”

Right as we got done changing into our swimsuits, Moca tugs me by the arm as she, too, is being tugged by Lisa-san. As our arms are firmly locked into each other, I’ve no choice but to get splashed by the seaside waters on the face. Contrasting to the summer heat, the water is chilly and comforting. Ten minutes into our frolicking sessions, I suddenly remembered one fatal mistake: I haven’t gotten to putting on any sunscreen on myself. I excused myself from the gang and went back to the van to get my stuff. Thankfully, Akari-san, our driver, warned us that she’s about to go out for a bit, so I made haste to not miss getting my bag. I briefly wondered why I didn’t just grab it earlier and leave it near one of the loungers like the others did, but I digress. After successfully doing my prepwork, which I should have done much earlier, and some light stretches, I went back into the waters and into the fun.

“Sorry, please excuse me…” Rinko-san looked like she wasn’t feeling too good, and excused herself from us for a while. I followed her with my eyes, and saw Yukina laying down on the lounger next to Rinko-san’s.

“Eh? Why did it take her that long to get changed?”; “Is she not going to join us?”; “Is she also not feeling well?”; as soon as I saw Yukina, these questions started to form in my mind, thus becoming the only person to inhabit my mind. I observed them for a bit longer, and watched them talk to each other. I spot Yukina looking over to me for a quick second, then back to Rinko-san. I know it’s irrational, but I can’t help but to feel a bit lonely just by looking at them; these feelings become pricks of jealousy, then stings, and then finally stabs that hurt. Like a knife piercing through my heart, even.

In the midst of me daydreaming once more, I suddenly get splashed by a huge wave of water in the face. I immediately wipe my face with my hands and turn to the source herself: Tsugu, who is holding a huge water gun in the form of a rifle.

“Tsk tsk. Soldiers who have absent minds die early in the battlefield, Ran~”

“I… I think I’ll be excusing myself as well, Tsugu.”

“Oh…? I see… Mufufu~ Have fun~”

Huh, didn’t expect that reaction… Then again, she already knows what’s up, so it’s not that surprising, I guess…?

“Alright, let’s do this.” I slap both of my cheeks to pump myself up; I don’t want her seeing me all gloomy during what’s supposed to be our relaxation time. I skip my way over to Yukina’s parasol and, in the heat of the moment, grab her by the arm, yanking her up to her feet a bit forcingly.

“Ran!?”

“What are you doing here, missing out on all the fun? Let’s go swim!”

“Ah!? Wait, I don’t know how to--!”

Her face turns red, and she looks over to Rinko-san. Still feeling a bit jealous over this situation, I let her go and instead grab her hand. Rinko-san looks kinda shocked, but gives us a thumbs up.

“Have fun, you two!” she says, and then lays back down on her lounger.

“Ran, wait! I don’t have my sunscreen on yet…” Yukina points to the table where her parasol sits, and I see a bottle of sunblock. I sigh, then instruct her to go lie down face first on her lounger.

I rub some sunblock on my hands before starting on her shoulders. I gently massaged her upper body as I was going at it. Since her muscles felt so tense, I told her to relax; going into the water, sometimes it could translate into cramps, after all. Once I was done with that part, I rubbed more sunblock on my hands and then continued with her lower torso. I proceed to run my fingers all throughout her slender body, gently caressing her all over. I slowly massage her, with the occasional soft moaning whenever I touch certain parts of her body. I asked her if I was too rough on her, but all I got in reply was a nod of denial. I softly blew cold breath in her ear in playful teasing, and she answered in soft shrieking, followed by her face going beet red. She sat up and started to punch me, but they didn’t hurt at all; it was more like an action made to avert her embarrassment.

“Wow… I haven’t seen Yukina-san’s dere side before...” Yukina and I get interrupted by Rinko-san, who I forgot was actually watching us this whole time. She is covering her face with her hands, but her fingers are spread just enough to peek at us, blushing pink and all that. Feeling embarrassed as well, I half-forcingly dragged Yukina out in the seaside’s waves, just like what Moca did to me. We immediately joined the others upon arriving to avoid the awkwardness. 

It seems like they were having a water splash fight, and since we are the latest ones to arrive, we immediately became everyone’s primary targets. We played in the water for some time, until everyone got tired. As we get out of the water, Lisa-san grabs Moca, saying “We’ll be right back!”, and they venture off to who knows where. A little while later, they rejoin us, beckoning us over to do the old tradition of watermelons and blindfolds; Lisa-san has the watermelons, Moca has the wooden bat and the blindfold, everything is set.

“Ehh? Isn’t this a little bit cliché? You see this every time in anime and manga, don’t you!?” Himari raises her voice in bewilderment.

“Who cares if it’s clichéd? I’m in!” in which Tomoe replied in earnest.

All of us were split 50/50 with the idea, so the ones who wanted out, remained watching, being the guiding voices, as the remaining others dived in on the fun of blindfolded watermelon splitting.

The score? Only Tomoe got the jackpot, but thanks to that, we were able to evenly split the watermelons for all of us to eat.

Having not sated the hunger for action just yet, Tsugu whips out a volleyball seemingly out of nowhere, and suggests that we all play together, pitting the two bands against each other. Nobody planned so far as to bring a whole net, but since we were playing solely for fun, I reckon it’s fine for us to play without one. Time passed by quickly, and nightfall came, signaling the end of our casual game of beach volleyball. Akari-san came back to us with some packaged meat in hand, probably enough to feed all eleven of us and more.

“It ain’t a beach episode without some barbeque and grilled meat!” Akari-san says with bright enthusiasm. I wonder if she’s also a frequent anime viewer, or a manga reader, could be both too for all we know. She hands us the meat and goes back to the van to get the reasonably huge portable griller. It would appear that she has taken this entire time off finding all this meat and a griller to borrow, even though we weren’t planning on doing this from the very get-go, but she told us it’s her treat, so who are we to say no to that?

Since our plans for dinner have changed, we all agreed to stay for a bit longer, having the certainty of all of us getting sent to our respective homes in one piece. We each call our parents before starting the bonfire, which is, in this case, the griller. All of us bond over fire and smoke, as this marks the first time we’ve done this sort of thing--going out of town for relaxation purposes, and with Roselia, no less.

Thanks to our volleyball games earlier, our stomachs grumble. The wafting scent of meat getting cooked soon overwhelms our conversations, as we are all evidently getting hungrier and hungrier with each minute passing by. Akari-san, who is the one cooking, sneaks a small bite herself as she overhears our discussions, turned to heated debates, about different types of grilled meat. It seems I’m the only one who noticed, so I pay it no mind; this was her idea, and she’s done much for us, after all.

“Alright, girls! Paper plates and plastic forks’ in the van, this batch is almost done!” Akari-san’s words were the ones that made us all stop whatever we were doing, saying, or thinking of, as we shifted our attention to her.

“Alright, Moca, you’re with me, let’s go get the things in the van.” Lisa-san suddenly stands up and beckons Moca over. They return just moments later, and so our dinner starts, and consists of nothing but meat, meat, and more meat. Since there was still uncooked meat ready and waiting, we were free to ask for more if we ever still wanted to eat. I looked over to Akari-san, and physically recoiled by how much meat is left, but much to my surprise, we all wiped our plates clean, leaving no meat wasted nor uncooked. Must’ve been the exhaustion from playing around all day.

Right after cleaning up, we all changed back into our casual wear, and dispersed to different parts of the area. Some are grouped and just chatting, some are helping Akari-san clean up, but I spot Yukina just a bit further from the group, with her lonesome, arms crossed and looking at the night sky. Wasting no time, I walked over to where she was. I was about to call over to her, but she might have seen me coming, or heard my footsteps in the silent night, so she started talking, still looking at the starry sky.

“The guests are met, the feast is set--may’st hear the merry din.”

“William Wordsworth. I never took you for an avid reader, Yukina.”

“I could also say the same to you.”

“Touché. You don’t brag about that kind of hobby anyway.” I stand next to her, looking over to where she does. “So what’s with the face? Look at you, getting all pensive and stuff; something on your mind?” She sighs, pauses for a bit, and then answers me with an uncertainty in her voice.

“Yeah...well, just mulling over some...things.”

“Things?”

“Yeah, things.”

“That so? Gotcha.”

…

…

...wait, that’s it!? Here I am, standing next to the person that I love, and I couldn’t manage to even think of a topic to talk about? Well shit, I’ve mustered up the courage to approach her and be alone with her, but is this my limit? Quick, think of something! Well… “Nice weather today huh?” wouldn’t cut it when it’s evening--wait how cringe is that!? Got any more ideas, smartass? Let’s see, what if I--

"I curse my stars, in bitter grief and woe, that made my love so high, and me so low." Oblivious to the current crumbling of my mental state, Yukina suddenly quotes a line, though I do not know whose. My thoughts get interrupted, and are replaced by another; me sifting through my memories if I ever read that line befo--WAIT, LOVE!?

“William Blake, Poetical. My favorite author.”

“Ah...haha...yeah, never read any of his works…” I lie in a moment of panic, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I look away to hide my flushed face and overwhelming embarrassment. My mental state crumbles even further, and my emotions go haywire as I hide my face with both of my hands.

**[Yukina’s POV]**

I’m looking skyward to where two comets meet, then I peek over to Ran. It looks like she, too, has some sort of inner turmoil going on. I look over to the trail of stars once more to steel myself. It’s alright, Yukina. Don’t tremble, don’t panic, you got this in the bag.

“I quote a lot of literature, but it’s time for you to hear my own words.” I inhale, then exhale. The beating in my heart won’t stop, but this has to be done, now or never.

“In the beginning of the days I realized my infatuation for you, I was afraid. Even right now, I am so afraid that my confession would mess up everything we have right now. After some more thinking, I realized differently; it is precisely because of these feelings that I managed to muster the courage that I needed. Every night, ever since that day, I’m always chasing after you in my dreams…” I turned to Ran, and then grabbed both of her hands in mine, forcing her to reveal her face--she is as red as a fresh tomato, ripe for the picking.

“...but I don’t want them to be just dreams any longer. You’re the only one I want, Ran. Mitake Ran. I love you. Please go out with me.” I say with a pleading voice. The silence is deafening; what are seconds of quiet felt like an eternal stillness.

…

...I’ve been reading too many books.

“What if I say no?” she says. Fine then, if you’re going to be that way...

“Pretty please? With a cherry on top?”

“That doesn’t even make any sense!”

“Well, love doesn’t make a shred of sense either, yet here we are.”

“Oh, you…!” she forcefully removes her hands from mine, and then gently holds my cheeks, leaning in for a kiss. I did not see this coming, so I just stood there dumbfounded, and eyes wide from shock. It took me a second to process Ran suddenly giving me a kiss, but then I immediately gave one back with the same amount of passion and emotions as she does. Our lips then part from each other, and then Ran speaks again.

“If you’re really alright with a dumbass like me, then I will happily be your girlfriend.” she says, then I stroke her head.

“As flawed as you may think you are, love, you’re perfect to me.”

“Hah, as if I could say no to you...stupid.” Ran’s legs gave out, presumably from the oppressive atmosphere from a few moments ago. I grabbed her back with both arms from in front of her, just in the nick of time.

“Woah, take it easy, love. What happened?”

“Ahahaha, I guess I'm still processing everything that happened in the past few minutes... and could you cut it out with the whole "love" thing!? We literally just started dating!”

“Oho~ I see…” a voice from behind takes us back to Earth from La-La-Land.

“Moca!?” Ran immediately fixes herself and her posture in front of her.

“Ah, Aoba-san.” I reply nonchalantly to hide my overwhelming embarrassment.

“Well, color me surprised… I actually thought you two were dating for a long time now, but I see~ Congratulations, you two, but you better hurry up if you don’t wanna get left behind~!” we soon notice the bags she is carrying. We apologize and take our stuff away from her hands. Aoba-san gives us a thumbs up, saying she’ll tell Akari-san to give us 30 more minutes. We both exhale at the same time, and it looks like I’m not the only one holding her breath. We noticed, and we laughed it off.

“Thank you, Minato-san, for th--”

“Yukina.” I quickly cut her sentence short. I need to drill this into her until she can call me by my name naturally.

“I won’t respond to you unless you call me by my name, Ran.” she turns red again, and then sits down on the soft sand. I sit next to her, anticipating her next move.

“Y-Yukina… Thanks.” and then she grabs my far shoulder, hugging me with one arm.

“Moca said 30 minutes, right? Let’s stay like this for a little bit longer.”

“Yeah. I love you Ran.”

“Me too, I love you too, Yukina.” I lean in for a kiss, sealing the deal between our relationship. We talked about anything and everything until it was about time to leave. It looks like Aoba-san already spilled the beans, for we were getting congratulatory remarks left and right. Upon getting inside the bus, Ran immediately went to my side, holding on to me like a lost puppy. Not a moment later, she became drowsy and slept, leaning her head on my shoulder. I hum her a ballad as I stroke her head, wondering what kind of life I would lead going forward, now that I have Ran as my lover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you all may have noticed, I changed the title again. Well, I've got this fic in my head to revolve around dreams, so I figured "Reverie" would be a more fitting title than "Correspondence" or "Rivals". To those who've noticed this (kinda) subtle plot line, kudos! Writing this has been so much fun and nerve-wracking at the same time, so I really hope that you like my little passion project. Thank you very much for reading and leaving kudos, and I'll see you all in the next fic!
> 
> **UPDATE: you guys are wild, so I'm going to cook up an afterstory as a "thank you" gift to all of you who read this and made my very first proper bandori fic a major success :)**


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